India’s HPCL to increase Mumbai bunker fuel market share by 5-10%

Indian state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited's recent delivery of its biggest bunker stem at the port of Mumbai has given the company impetus to increase its market share, company executive Harmukh Meena told S&P Global Platts Monday.

"Mumbai port being a tidal port, customers and traders were not confident of lifting big stems above 1,500 mt.

"However, this recent delivery...has given us the ability to execute big stem deliveries in Mumbai," Meena said.

"We are confident of increasing our market share by 5-10%" he added.

The bunker supplier delivered 2,500 mt of intermediate fuel oil 380 CST to the 59,235 dwt Vasco da Gama, one of the world's biggest dredgers, at Mumbai port on September 29.

An RSV class barge with a pumping rate of around 250 mt/hour delivered the stem to the dredger.

The Mumbai bunker market is dominated by two Indian state-owned oil and gas companies, Bharat Petroleum Corporate Limited and HPCL. According to market sources, HPCL has an around 60-70% market share and BPCL 30-40%.

Mumbai's bunker sales volume was around 10,000 to 13,000 mt/month, before India's implementation of an 18% goods and services tax on July 1, but sales have since dropped by 80-90%, traders said.

However, this trend is expected to be reversed as India's GST Council met last Friday and announced a number of tax cuts. Trade sources said they were waiting for an official circular that the GST on bunker fuel exports has been reduced to 5% from 18%.

"It should be out this week," Meena said.

HPCL has a 7.5 million mt/year refinery in Mumbai, and a 8.3 million mt/year one in Visakhapatnam, producing liquefied petroleum gas, high sulfur diesel, bitumen and residual fuels.